Semi crash halts traffic for hours

Truck spills 40,000 pounds of pea gravel on U.S. 62

By Ryan Carter - ryancarter@civitasmedia.com

Approximately 40,000 pounds of pea gravel spilled onto U.S. Route 62 in Fayette County following a semi-truck accident Tuesday morning.

At around 10 a.m., the semi-truck, owned by Jones Topsoil, was heading southbound on U.S. 62, between Bloomingburg-New Holland Road and West Road. At that time, the driver, Victor West, 29, of Grove City, lost control of the truck, which went off the right side of the roadway into the ditch and then slid back across the road into the other ditch when it overturned, according to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.

No one was seriously injured during the accident. West refused treatment from Fayette County EMS at the scene.

The 40,000 pounds of pea gravel spilled from the truck into the roadway and into the ditch. The Ohio Department of Transportation responded to the scene to clean up the gravel and Barker’s Towing removed the semi-truck from the scene. There was also a minor fuel spill into the ditch that was cleaned up by the Bloomingburg Fire Department.

The portion of U.S. 62 between Bloomingburg-New Holland Road and West Road was closed until around 1:30 p.m., according to the FCSO. Local traffic was diverted to Bloomingburg-New Holland and West roads.